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Multiple Sclerosis/Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby Tim and a Moby are at the starting line of a charity walk for Multiple Sclerosis. The event is very crowded. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Uh, I think the walk is 10 kilometers. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah. It's going to be fun, and it's for a good cause. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, my friend's brother has MS. What does that mean? Thanks, Jami. Well, MS stands for multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is an illness that affects about 400,000 thousand Americans and another two million or so people throughout the rest of the world. Figures on an animated world map represent people with MS. TIM: It's a disease of the central nervous system, which includes the brain and the spinal cord. It also impacts the nerves that go out to the eyes and individual muscles. An animated silhouette illustrates the human brain, spinal cord, nerves, eyes, and muscles. TIM: When a healthy person wants to move some body part, an electrical message travels from the brain, along the spinal cord, and out to the body part. As a fly nears the silhouette, the brain, spinal cord, and muscles light up. The silhouette swats a fly that has landed on its arm. TIM: Unfortunately, in people with MS, the process breaks down, so their muscles don't always work the way they want them to. Simple things like walking, typing, opening things, or picking things up can become very difficult or even impossible, sometimes for just a little while and sometimes forever. An animation shows a man walking down a sidewalk, using a cane. TIM: It sometimes might seem like a person with MS is being clumsy, but it's not their fault. Their muscles just aren't working right. An animation shows a young woman raising a glass of water to her mouth, then dropping it. She looks sad. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, it happens when myelin, a protective substance that coats nerve cells, gets damaged. In people with MS, scars form where myelin breaks down, and this prevents brain signals from traveling properly to muscles. An animation shows electrical impulses traveling through nerves. The myelin coating on the nerves breaks down and the impulses are diverted from the direction they're supposed to go. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, no. Don't be sorry. It's good to ask lots of questions. And to answer that last one, no, most people don't die from MS. But it is a progressive disease, which means it often gets worse as time goes on. And as of yet there's no known cure, so once you get MS, you'll probably always have it. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, it does stink. Especially since multiple sclerosis is pretty unpredictable. Some people can have hardly any symptoms at all, or at least don't have them very often, while others have symptoms that are much more serious or that occur much more frequently. The most common symptoms of MS are fatigue, numbness or pins-and-needles feelings in the arms and legs, visual problems, muscle weakness, and difficulties with coordination or balance. Images show a young person with each of the symptoms Tim describes. TIM: Some people with MS eventually lose the ability to walk and require wheelchairs. An image shows a woman in a wheelchair, moving across her yard. TIM: Others lose their ability to see properly. An image shows a blurry eye chart. TIM: But many others with MS may not face these challenges. An animation shows a businessman giving a presentation in a meeting room. MOBY: Beep. TIM: That's a good question. No one really knows why certain people get multiple sclerosis and others don't. It's thought to be an autoimmune disease, which is what happens when the body attacks itself. In this case, the immune system attacks the central nervous system. An animation shows the human immune system as cartoon characters wearing army helmets. The characters gang up on a string of nerve cells. TIM: There's some evidence that there might be a genetic component to MS. But if there is, it's not very clear because the disease is not known to be directly inherited. Some scientists believe there may also be some unknown environmental factors involved. Like, one theory says that the more sunlight you're exposed to as you are growing up, the less likely you are to get MS. An animation shows a young boy making a sandcastle on a beach. TIM: But it's not something you can catch, like a cold or the flu, so you don't ever have to worry about getting close to someone with MS. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, as I said, it's hard to know because even scientists don't have a way to predict it. But it does affect women more than twice as often as men. An animation uses silhouettes to illustrate the statistic Tim cites. TIM: And it tends to strike people in early adulthood most. People are often diagnosed in their mid-20s. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yep, there are some treatments, but none is guaranteed to work. And they can have some pretty major side effects. So, groups like the National Multiple Sclerosis Society organize events like this walk to help raise awareness and money for new research to find improved, easier-to-take treatments, and to find the cure. An image shows the emblem for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, so if you want to join the movement to end MS, there are a few things you can do. First, you can volunteer your time and energy to groups like the National MS Society, who are dedicated to helping each person address the challenges of living with MS. Not only do they fund more than four hundred MS research projects around the world, they provide a wide range of programs and services for people with MS and their families. There are fundraiser events like walks and bike rides across the country. A smiling Moby rides a bicycle. TIM: And you can donate directly to organizations like the National MS Society. Every dollar makes a difference toward the goal of finding a cure for MS. To find out more, contact your local National MS Society chapter. Tim and Moby begin their MS walk. MOBY: Beep. Moby runs ahead of Tim. TIM: Hey, it's not a race! Moby does not return. TIM: Oh, well. An adult joins Tim on his walk. The adult uses a cane to help him walk. TIM: Hey, Jordy. Jordy increases his pace and moves ahead of Tim. TIM: It's not a race. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Health Transcripts